Conventionally, small form factor devices, such as handheld electronic devices, have a display arrangement that includes various layers. The various layers usually include at least a display technology layer, and may additionally include a sensing arrangement and/or a cover window disposed over the display technology layer. By way of example, the display technology layer may include or pertain to a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) that includes a Liquid Crystal Module (LCM). The LCM generally includes an upper glass sheet and a lower glass sheet that sandwich a liquid crystal layer there between. The sensing arrangement may be a touch sensing arrangement such as those used to create a touch screen. For example, a capacitive sensing touch screen can include substantially transparent sensing points or nodes dispersed about a sheet of glass (or plastic). In addition, the cover window, which is typically designed as the outer protective barrier of the display arrangement.
The cover window, or glass cover, for a small form factor device can be made of plastic or glass. Plastic is durable but susceptible to being scratched. Glass is scratch resistant, but brittle. The rigid nature of glass makes it susceptible to cracking if subjected to significant forces. For example, users of handheld electronic devices occasionally drop their device onto a floor or other hard surface, and the resulting impact forces can cause the glass to crack. In general, the thicker the glass, the stronger it is. Unfortunately, however, with low profile handheld devices, the glass cover is often relatively thin, and tends to be susceptible to damage when the small form factor device is stressed as, for example, when dropped onto a floor. Here, the glass cover may crack or break as a result of being dropped onto the floor. As handheld electronic devices become thinner, the glass cover sheets used on the handheld electronic devices typically also becomes thinner and, thus, more susceptible to damage.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improved approaches for glass cover arrangements for electronic devices that are configured to avoid unnecessary damage.